FINNED (The Merworld Water Wars) (32 page)

“Um, you didn’t lose something, did you? Like the keys again…and your mind?”

“Very funny. No, I didn’t lose anything. Someone broke in while we were out. I straightened your room first. It doesn’t appear they stole anything. I was about to call the police. Sweetheart, I thought you had been kidnapped,” she said, picking up some papers and placing them on the counter.

“Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry. I should have left a note or something. I honestly thought I’d be home by the time you got back.”

“I’m well aware of your tendencies to get lost for hours with Troy,” she said, cutting the cookie dough.

“I’m always surprised by how lost I feel when I’m with him,” I said, looking mindlessly at the mess when something on the floor caught my eye.

A blue slip of paper peeked out from the rest of the clutter. Picking it up off the floor, I immediately recognized my mom’s handwriting:
12/31, Marina-call Meikle. Planning a surprise birthday séance event for Polly on January 1
^st
(her birthday).

“Mom, where did this come from?” I asked, handing her the note.

“I don’t know, sweetie. Everything is such a wreck. Maybe from the side drawer? Strange. We usually throw out old messages. It’s a shame Polly moved before you could throw her a big seventeenth birthday séance. Meikle really is a little scary, isn’t she?”

Seventeen.

“Wasn’t Mr. Smar—Anderson here the day you took this note? Wasn’t he dropping off papers or something?” I asked, my mind racing.

“I think you’re right. He forgot the papers, though.”

My hands shaking, I pulled Trey’s first note from my pocket and stared at it. “My God Almighty. It’s all adding up,” I said, the words catching in my throat.

SNAP! POUF!

There, in the middle of our kitchen, stood the figure of a man hidden by a large cloud of blue smoke.

“Mom, run!”

“Wait-COUGH-Marina! It’s me.”

“Doctor Tenly?”

“Yes. I think so, anyway,” he said, dusting off his long gray coat. “Sorry about the weak entrance. Still working on the cloud of smoke bit. Unfortunately, the whole thing resembles a pitiful magic act by a poor man’s Merlin.”

Mom grabbed a carving knife off the counter. “Marina, who is this man?”

“Doctor David Tenly, Mrs. Valentine. Pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending a hand to my mom, which she tentatively shook. “I am sorry to have caused such a…
mess
. What happened? Pig get loose?”

“Someone raided our house while we were out,” I said.

“Well, then, I’m sorry to have added to the sty.” Clearly amused by his wit, Doctor Tenly flashed his best goofy grin. “As I was saying, it has been a pleasure, Mrs. Valentine. Sadly, you will have no memory of my face or name in a matter of, oh, roughly two seconds.”

“I’m calling the police! AND don’t you come any closer or so help me I’ll cut off your—”

Doctor Tenly waved his hand, and Mom floated gently to the ground in a deep slumber. “Bedtime for mommy.”

“Will she be okay?” I asked.

“Aw, yeah. She’s feistier than I thought. Couldn’t have her lobbing off my—”

“Oh, just stop there,” I said, wincing.

“Worse still, she could’ve called the Ravenflame-run police.”

“She’s snoring. She never snores.”

“I may have used a little too much extra-strength silver snow. She may be a little groggy when she wakes up tomorrow night. Now, when I showed up, you were saying something about how all these little pieces add up. What do you know?” he asked.

“You know there were four Normals. Trey, Polly, Meikle, and me. Last year, there were three more, but they allegedly moved, which is supposed to be impossible for we banished ones.”

“Eh, most merps just figured their talents went haywire and the relatives opted to leave here, or the Imperia enacted some sort of second chance clause,” said Doctor Tenly. “Even the relatives of the few remaining Normals thought the same thing. Most adults aren’t open to even considering the impossible. But, I knew something was going on…I just could never quite grasp the truth. It’s flipping maddening.”

“Well, I think I’m about to kaboom both of those scenarios and hand you that truth. Hambourg had a strict
never share your birthday
rule. No one could know when you were born.”

“That’s all institutions like Hambourg, actually. Some standard for measuring behavior,” said Doctor Tenly. “Go on.”

“Trey disappeared just weeks before his seventeenth birthday. On Thanksgiving, he sent me this clue,” I said, showing him the note.

“What is it? Mangled puffer fish number seventeen, at your service?”

“Yeah, I used to think those were spikes along the top of the circle, too, but I don’t think so now, and here’s why: tonight, I found a message my mom took from Meikle on New Year’s Eve. She wanted to plan a seventeenth birthday séance for Polly’s birthday on January first. But, the night before her birthday, I saw two people drag her into the ocean. Anderson said Polly moved that same night, which, of course, was a total lie. Meikle thought her spell might have inadvertently caused a repelling of demons and blood relations—”

“And that would go quite nicely with the Normals gone haywire theory, unless…”

“…unless you look again at Trey’s clue. If you count the number of lines making up each so-called spike, you get seventeen.”

“So you’re saying…”

“I think the spikes are really candles, and I think the circle represents a birthday cake. He drew the arrow from the candles to the number seventeen in the middle of the circle-cake to try and clue me in.”

“It’s a wonder you deciphered his clue at all. He’s a rather poor artist, isn’t he?” said Doctor Tenly.

“Big picture, Doc. Something’s happening to the Normals before they turn seventeen,” I said, folding my arms.

“Add to it the fact that Zale made bringing Normals to Saxet Shores part of the pact, and you’ve got a massive Ravenflame cover-up,” said Doctor Tenly. “Anderson, that little eel, knew merps don’t celebrate birthdays. Most of us don’t even know our own birth date. Why would we ever give a dolphin’s turd about a Normal’s birthday, right?! It’s the perfect invisibly visible crime. I mean, who would ever pay close enough attention to when the Normals disappear?”

“Apart from other Normal students, no one. Even then, that’s a big maybe, given our lack of birthday awareness, thanks to Hambourg’s no-birthday-sharing rule. And, like you said, the relatives are too adult-ified to think as crazy as someone my age,” I said, pacing. “I’m certain Trey figured it out and ran away before they could get him. That’s what he was trying to tell me with his hideous interpretation of a birthday cake and candles. It was a warning.”

“All of this happened right under my nose, and I didn’t see it. Well, score one for Anderson. Won’t happen again. Now, the question is…where are they keeping the missing Normals?”

“There’s a little more I haven’t told you. On Halloween—the night I saw the red stone—I saw faces in the porthole. They said, ‘I am you, you will be me.’ Tonight, when I returned to the porthole to get the stone, I saw two more faces…Trey’s and Polly’s.”

“My Poseidon and all things aquatic. This is far worse than I could have imagined,” said Doctor Tenly, rubbing his forehead.

“What? What does it mean? Are my friends trapped somewhere? Are they…dead?”

“I’m…not sure, Marina,” he said, grabbing tightly at his hair. “You said you only just found the note your mom took way back on New Year’s Eve. Why didn’t you see it sooner?”

“Mr. Anderson visited my mom the day she took this note. I’m convinced he hid the note in the drawer, so I wouldn’t find out about Polly’s birthday. I’m guessing Meikle just dropped the whole idea when she didn’t hear back from me. Wait…I just remembered…the first day back from Christmas break, Meikle tried to ask me something—”

“That’s when she collapsed, isn’t it? From some allergic reaction?” asked Doctor Tenly.

“Yes! I think she was going to grill me for not getting back to her about Polly’s birthday.”

“Anderson poisoned her to keep her from talking. I’m betting Andersnout was unloading a brickyard when she didn’t keel over before lunch. She must have a strong immune system.”

“He told my mom that Meikle had Prehendo Animus.”

Doctor Tenly slammed his hand on the counter. “That sick son of a bitch could have destroyed her! He was desperate to keep you two separated, so you wouldn’t learn of Polly’s birthday and start questioning things, potentially piecing together their corrupt puzzle.”

“Do you think they ripped Meikle’s soul from her?”

“I don’t know, Marina,” he said sadly.

“They’re supposed to be transferring her to Baylor. Why do that unless…Doctor, can you wake my mom up for a second?” He waved his hand over her eyes, and she stared at me like she had been downing the Lone Star Hooch. “Mom, do you know when they are moving Meikle to Dallas? Mom?”

Her eyes glazed over and she started snoring again.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

“Would you kindly stop hitting my mother on the head?”

“Sorry.”

“Mom? When are they moving Meikle?”

“July first,” she said dazedly.

Barely breathing I asked, “Do you know when Meikle’s birthday is?”

“Her file had her birthday on it. We should really get her a little gift or something before she leaves…”

“When is her birthday, Mom?”

“July second.”

“Tomorrow,” I said.

Doctor Tenly once again placed my mom in a deep sleep. We both watched as my poor mom slumped over and banged her head on the floor.

“She should be comatose for two solid days now. Maybe three after hitting her head. One less thing to worry about.”

“You really have to work on your bedside manner,” I said.

“We need to get
you
to safety, now more than ever. The Ravenflames are on their way here right now. That’s why I came. We might have ten minutes.”

“I can’t. I have to go to Trey’s house. I promised. And I need to save Meikle.”

“Marina, if they get you…”

“They won’t. Please, just take care of my mother and get yourself hidden. We don’t stand a chance without you,” I said.

He placed his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll take care of your mother, not to worry. When you can, get yourself hidden in the caves on Lockleigh, by the lagoon. And do be safe.”

“I promise. And thank you, kooky merman doctor dude.” I hugged him before rushing to my room and crawling out my window.

My feet barely touched the sand when I heard a voice.

“Marina?”

“Troy! Thank goodness you’re back!”

“About earlier, I didn’t mean—”

“I know. Don’t even think about it. Troy, I need your help.”

“What’s going on?”

“I need you to get Meikle out of the hospital.”

“What?!”

“I know it sounds crazy…”

“Crazy? Marina, it’s massively insane!”

“You need to trust me, please. Anderson and the Ravenflames are kidnapping Normals the night before their seventeenth birthday. Meikle’s birthday is July second. That’s tomorrow, Troy. They’ll take her away tonight unless I can get her first. Please, Troy,” I begged.

“Okay,” he said darkly.

“Do you think you can get in and get her out without getting yourselves killed?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Are you okay? You seem…different.”

“I’m fine, just concerned about you.”

“I’ll be okay. I’ve gotten pretty good at lurking and barely escaping sure death. Get Meikle and meet me at the Lockleigh caves. I have to take care of something first.” I kissed him on the cheek and ran for Trey’s house, carefully staying in the shadows.

Trey’s house looked sinister and desolate. Running around to his bedroom window, I kicked a small piece of rope, very much like those Trey used to tie notes around the baby seal. Must not think about the fate of the seal right now, otherwise severe, unstoppable crying will ensue.

I crawled in, falling hard on the worn floor. Looking around, I spotted odd streak marks all over the room; it looked as though someone dragged a body about.

“Floorboards, key, drop,” I said, re-reading Trey’s note. “Drop. What does he mean? Drop the key on the floorboards?” I joked, before raising my eyebrows, crinkling my chin, and dropping the key.

It didn’t take long to realize why this was definitely not your average key. The plush hermit crab opened, spun about the room, and oozed a foamy blanket, covering the floor like snow. Soon, eerie words, drawings, maps, and photographs squeezed through the floorboards and arranged themselves on the walls.

“Okay, Trey, show me what ya got.” I looked around at all of the ghostly, glowing words and images, trying to find something that might help. Then, I saw them: yearbook pictures of the faces I saw in the porthole—Trey’s best friend, Earl, his girlfriend, Ophelia, and her sister, Odette. Next to their names, Trey noted their age, birthday, and disappearance date. “All went missing the night before their seventeenth birthday.” Spinning around, I saw a list of over one hundred Normals, all having disappeared the night before they turned seventeen.

Big blue arrows caught my eye on the opposite side of the room. Beneath the arrows was a small rectangular box depicting an image of a note Trey must have written.

The deliverer: Delivers Normals to Zale by force or coercion; is a force of superior strength; cannot be killed by conventional means. Rumored demon. Has no propensity for love. Discover: Why are they taking Normals? And what kind of creature is the deliverer?

“My God. The deliverer has no propensity for love,” I read aloud, horrified.

“Scary enough for you?”

I whirled around to find Katrina and her siblings, Kyle, Kathreena, and Kellen, all standing with their tridents blazing.

“Eh, not any scarier than a clogged toilet, and I’d give the edge to the toilet.”

“Smart tongue,” said Kathreena, Katrina’s considerably older sister. Her violet eyes made her skin look sickly green. “Can’t we just take a little bite? Chompy-chomp.”

“No,” said Kellen, the youngest. He reminded me of some devil-child with his narrow brown eyes, colorless skin, and leather-like hair. “We have our orders from Father.”